This website uses cookies

This website uses cookies to give you the best user experience. You have disabled cookies which will render many features of the GSL website unusable. To change your cookie settings, select the option below and follow the instructions. These instructions are also obtainable from the privacy & cookies link at the bottom of any GSL page.

This website uses cookies to give you the best user experience. If you continue without changing your settings we'll assume you are happy to receive all GSL cookies. To change your cookie settings, select the option below and follow the instructions. These instructions are also obtainable from the privacy & cookies link at the bottom of any GSL page.

The Geological Society offers grades of membership for every stage of your career, from student to retirement. Find out about the benefits of membership, and how we can help you achieve and maintain Chartered status.

Information about the Geological Society’s internationally acclaimed books and journals for authors, editors, librarians and readers. Order publications, find out about the Lyell Collection and read guidelines for preparing a paper or submitting a book proposal.

Information and resources for teachers and students from
primary education onwards; for those making careers choices
after A-levels including undergraduate and further degrees
at university; and for those seeking professional
geosciences training or exploring lifelong learning
opportunities.

News and updates for the press, policy makers and members of the public interested in how the geosciences
interact with society. Find updates about policy related meetings, consultation responses, position statements and
press releases.

Geoscientist is the Fellowship magazine of the Geological Society: with news about science, people, the Society, features, reviews, opinion, letters and forthcoming events. All this, and more, can be found sooner here, in our online version.

The Geological Society of London is the UK national society for geoscience, providing support to over 11,500 members in the UK and overseas. Founded in 1807, we are the oldest geological society in the world.

In the UK and elsewhere, decarbonisation of power production, industry, transport and heating to meet climate change targets is a major challenge and one that intrinsically involves the subsurface and geoscience.

Decarbonising centralised power generation will involve expansion of renewables as well as the civil nuclear program. Renewables will require a huge increase in grid-scale energy storage to cover intermittency, which will mean greater reliance on more efficient batteries, pumped storage and compressed air energy storage.

Geothermal power, heating and cooling will require assessment of resources and impacts of development, while the safety critical nuclear sector will require a detailed understanding of risks associated with natural hazards such as seismicity as well as meeting the challenge of effective geological disposal of radioactive waste.

All require geological studies, for example investigating the geological origin and prospectivity of transition metals and rare earth elements for batteries; or for siting of power station, dams and tunnels in pumped water storage; geological studies for compressed air energy storage (CAES); and detailed characterisation of the subsurface for radwaste disposal.

A transition may also involve more natural gas and hydrogen, with implications for the possible supply of ‘home grown’ shale gas, and the underground storage and transport of hydrogen. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) and ‘bio-energy and CCS’ (BECCS), require fundamental research into geological sequestration and its environmental implications.

Decarbonisation is central to Government and international policy and this three day conference will host national experts from industry, academia, and government to look at the geological and reservoir engineering aspects of the problem. The main objective will be to identify the high level barriers to progress and the main science questions - and begin a roadmap to solve the problems.

Keynote speakers

Spencer Dale, Group Chief Economist - BP

Chris Stark, Chief Executive - Committee on Climate Change

Nick Pidgeon - Cardiff University

Andrew Miller - First Chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee

Convenors

Call for abstracts

Abstracts are invited from early career researchers who wish to exhibit posters at the conference. Posters that address any aspect of decarbonisation geoscience are encouraged, for example geothermal, gas storage, compressed air energy storage, critical metals, radioactive waste disposal, CCS, and bio-energy and CCS (BECCS).

Abstracts should be approximately 500 words and include a title and acknowledgement of authors and their affiliations where possible. Abstract guidelines are available in the downloads box.